Japan says safe to discharge radioactive water from Fakushima disaster into ocean

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has stated that discharging the radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the Pacific Ocean is safe.

It noted that the tainted water’s radiation levels measured close to the release point would be small as against the radiation levels that humans are otherwise naturally exposed during the course of a year, reported Japan Times.

METI informed the government subcommittee that releasing the radioactive water into the ocean during a year would stand between one-1,600th and one-40,000th of the radiation to which people otherwise come into contact on annual basis in their daily life.

The tainted water, which was used to cool the melted-down cores at the damaged facility, as well as groundwater from close to area, contain some radioactive materials. Currently, this water is being collected and stored in tanks on the facility grounds.

However, given that space is dwindling, the government is looking for a way to dump tainted water, which currently stands at over 1 million tonnes and with daily volumes growing by over 100t.

As per an estimate carried out by the ministry, the annual radiation levels close to the discharge point following the release of the tainted water would be between 0.052 and 0.62 microsievert at sea, and 1.3 microsieverts in the atmosphere, as against 2,100 microsieverts that humans are naturally exposed in a year.

Currently, the wastewater is treated through an advanced liquid processing system or ALPS. This system, however, does not remove tritium and also leaves other radioactive materials in a small amount, reported the publication.

The tanks on the facility ground to store the water are likely to become full by the summer of 2022, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The facility was damaged due to a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami after that in March 2011.

Although government officials state that it is safe to discharge the wastewater into the ocean, local fishermen are opposed to the move as it may impact their livelihoods. South Korea too expressed concerns over the impact on the environment.

According to a nuclear expert from the IAEA, a controlled release of radioactive water “is something which is applied in many nuclear facilities, so it is not something that is new.”

One member of the sub-panel has urged the ministry to provide detailed data indicating the impact of the discharge, while another member urged for detailed information on the amount of radiation that people will be exposed to due to the consumption of fish caught from the area.